Held Up

Director:

Stephen Rash

Writer:

Jeff Eastin

Trimark Pictures; PG-13; 91 minutes

Release:

5/00

Cast:

Jamie Foxx, Nia Long, Sam Gifaldi

Held Up is a directionless comedy about a black newlywed (Jamie Foxx) stranded in a redneck Western town. He unwittingly becomes involved in a convenient store holdup/hostage situation carried about by Mexicans. The film's synopsis reveals a profound creative confusion, as if the writers felt they needed to cram in several jokes to compensate for the lack of general funniness.

Foxx is more in his TV mode than anything else, so it is up to the supporting cast to lighten up things. His character gets mistaken for everyone from Mike Tyson to Puff Daddy, which, in better hands, could have been transformed into hilarious satire. These and other moments offer glimpses of a much stronger outing smothered by the laziness of this one.